News 13:00

BULLETIN 2 September 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The double murder in Limpopo sparks a debate on racial tensions in rural South Africa
# An education activist calls on government to prevent the cutting of teacher posts
# And, tennis: Sinner and Swiatek aim to reach the US Open quarterfinals

# The murder of two Limpopo women whose bodies were found in a pigsty, has reignited debates on racial tensions in rural South Africa. Farmer Zachariah Olivier and two employees, accused of shooting the women for trespassing, have appeared in court. The Institute of Race Relations’ director, Gabriel Crouse, emphasised to Newzroom Afrika that allegations of racism require clear evidence:

# Education activist Hendrick Makaneta is calling on Basic Education minister Siviwe Gwarube to prevent the cutting of teacher posts by provincial Education departments. The Western Cape Department of Education will cut around two-thousand-400 teaching jobs due to severe budget shortfalls amounting to 3.8-billion-rand. KwaZulu-Natal currently cannot afford 11-thousand-and-92 of its educator posts with a budget shortfall of four-billion-rand for this year alone. Makaneta says the cutting of teacher posts will have far-reaching consequences:

# Two major South African water boards, Vaal Central and Magalies Water, are facing bankruptcy amid failure to pay municipal bills. The boards owe 22.4-billion-rand in combined debt, burdened with non-payment exceeding 60 days, The boards have also inherited liabilities from the now-bankrupt Sedibeng Water. The Department of Water and Sanitation is negotiating payment plans with at-risk municipalities to address the growing crisis.

# President Joe Biden will meet with US negotiators pushing for a hostage-release deal in the Israel-Hamas war. This follows the deaths of six captives in Gaza, including an American citizen. Biden’s official schedule was revised to make time for the White House meeting, which will also be attended by vice president Kamala Harris, who is running to succeed him in November’s election. The United States, along with fellow mediators Egypt and Qatar, has spent months pushing for a hostage-prisoner exchange and ceasefire in the war in Gaza.

# Tennis: World number one Jannik Sinner will continue his quest for a first US Open title when he takes on American Tommy Paul for a place in the quarterfinals today. Sinner has advanced to at least the last eight at every major this season, winning the Australian Open for his maiden Grand Slam trophy. The only former champion remaining, Russian Daniil Medvedev, plays Portugal’s Nuno Borges. In the women’s draw, world number one Iga Swiatek of Poland will face Russian Liudmila Samsonova.

# And, the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-85-cents and the euro at 19-rand-76-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-46-cents and Bitcoin trades at 57-thousand-953-dollars-90-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-502-dollars-52-cent a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 77-dollars-14-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….